Timeline of Irish inventions and discoveries
Irish inventions and discoveries are objects, processes or techniques which owe their existence either partially or entirely to an Irish person. Often, things which are discovered for the first time, are also called "inventions", and in many cases, there is no clear line between the two. Below is a list of such inventions.
Pre-history
6th century
7th century
- Irish scribes begin adding word spacing to texts.
14th century
- Caid (precursor to modern Gaelic football).
- The Northern Reginians Anthem
- Whiskey
17th century
- Irish road bowling.
- 1661: Modern chemistry founded by Robert Boyle with the publication of The Sceptical Chymist.
- 1662: Boyle's law discovered by Robert Boyle.
- 1680s: European adaptation of Drinking chocolate - Hans Sloane. However, this "adaption" is highly disputed. According to historian James Delbourgo, the Jamaicans were brewing “a hot beverage brewed from shavings of freshly harvested cacao, boiled with milk and cinnamon” as far back as 1494.
18th century
- 1730: Concept of entrepreneurship discovered by Richard Cantillon.
- 1759: Invention of Guinness by Arthur Guinness
19th century
- 1805: Beaufort scale invented by Francis Beaufort.
- 1809: Milk of Magnesia discovered by James Murray.
- 1813: Clanny safety lamp invented by William Reid Clanny.
- 1820:
- Trinity Peninsula discovered by Edward Bransfield.
- Modern meat curing and the Bacon Rasher invented by Henry Denny, a Waterford butcher.
- 1821: The development of "Extra Stout" beer by Arthur Guinness II and others.
- 1830: Coffey still invented by Aeneas Coffey.
- 1831: Method of treating cholera patients discovered by William Brooke O'Shaughnessy.
- 1832: Kyanising invented by John Howard Kyan.
- 1834: The game of Croquet.
- 1836: Induction coil invented by Nicholas Callan.
- 1838: Screw-pile lighthouse invented by Alexander Mitchell.
- 1843: Quaternion discovered by William Rowan Hamilton.
- 1844: Hypodermic needle invented by Francis Rynd.
- 1846: Cup anemometer invented by Thomas Romney Robinson.
- 1848: Kelvin scale invented by William Thomson.
- 1851: Binaural stethoscope invented by Arthur Leared.
- 1856: Icosian calculus discovered by William Rowan Hamilton.
- 1857: Modern isoseismal map invented by Robert Mallet.
- 1859: Proof of the greenhouse effect discovered by John Tyndall.
- 1864: Capnography invented by John Tyndall.
- 1865: The first Transatlantic telegraph cable pioneered by William Thomson on Valentia Island.
- 1866: Standard drop method of hanging discovered by Samuel Haughton.
- 1871: Fireman's respirator invented by John Tyndall.
- 1877: Brennan torpedo invented by Louis Brennan.
- 1879: The rules of Hurling first standardised with the foundation of the Irish Hurling Union.
- 1881: Stoney units discovered by George Johnstone Stoney.
- 1883: Method of producing electromagnetic waves discovered by George Francis FitzGerald.
- 1885: Cream cracker invented by Joseph Haughton.
- 1886: Graphophone invented by Chichester Bell.
- 1888: Gregg shorthand invented by John Robert Gregg.
- 1889: Length contraction discovered by George Francis FitzGerald.
- 1891: 'Electron' coined by George Johnstone Stoney.
- 1894:
- Cohesion-tension theory discovered by Henry Horatio Dixon and John Joly.
- Joly colour screen invented by John Joly.
- 1897:
- Holland VI invented by John Philip Holland.
- Townsend discharge discovered by John Sealy Townsend.
20th century
- 1900: Reflector sight invented by Howard Grubb.
- 1905: Underground conveyor belt invented by Richard Sutcliffe.
- 1909: Irish logarithm invented by Percy Ludgate.
- 1914: 'Dublin method' in radiation therapy discovered by John Joly.
- 1926: Three-point linkage invented by Harry Ferguson.
- 1927: "Variant colonies of staphylococcus aureus" discovered by Joseph Warwick Bigger and his students.
- 1931:
- Drumm Battery Train invented by James J. Drumm.
- Sudocrem invented by Dublin pharmacist Thomas Smith.
- 1932: Disintegration of an atomic nucleus by artificially accelerated protons (splitting the atom) discovered by Ernest Walton.
- 1946: Ejection seat – first live test of a reliable, successful modern ejection seat invented by James Martin.
- 1947: Duty-free shopping invented by Brendan O'Regan.
- 1950: Flavoured potato crisps invented by Joseph Murphy.
- 1954: Clofazimine discovered by a medical research team led by Vincent Barry.
- 1960s: Portable defibrillator invented by Frank Pantridge.
- 1967: Pulsars discovered by Jocelyn Bell Burnell.
- 1970s: Avermectin discovered by William C. Campbell.
21st century
- 2003: Sugru invented by Jane Ní Dhulchaointigh.
- 2010: Spice bag invented by Sunflower Chinese Takeaway in Templeogue, Dublin.